Commenting on reports that Home Secretary Suella Braverman MP is considering upgrading cannabis to a Class A drug, Christopher Snowdon, Head of Lifestyle Economics at free market think thank the Institute of Economic Affairs, said:

“The idea of scheduling cannabis as a Class A drug is foolish. It would make a mockery of the drug classification system which is supposed to reflect the harms associated with different substances. 

“It would be much better to follow the growing number of countries that are legalising, taxing and regulating cannabis. As previous IEA research has shown, this would generate around £1 billion a year in tax revenue and create jobs in a legitimate economy. 

“As Europe and North America moves towards legalising cannabis, it is perverse for the British government to be pushing in the opposite direction and doubling down on the disastrous war on drugs.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

Contact: media@iea.org.uk / 07763 365520

IEA spokespeople are available for interview and further comment.

 

Further IEA reading:

 

‘Joint Venture: Estimating the Size and Potential of the UK Cannabis Market’, authored by Christopher Snowdon